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  THE ROOM WAS DARK and thick with the scent of cigarette smoke. The only light came from an old TV, blaring the same channel as the screen on the street and allowing just enough light to let Seven to make out the silhouette of what looked like a man. He was sat before it in a ratty old armchair with his back to them, alone in the darkness apart for a bottle of Firewhiskey in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other.

  Seven stared at the screen, now able to read the writing on the small red banner that repeatedly cycled across the bottom of the screen.

  BLOOD TRAITOR PARVATI PATIL EXECUTED

  The man didn't turn to acknowledge them as he stared unbreakingly at the screen. "Sick 'aint it." He muttered with a gruff voice, aged by smoke and heavily tainted with an accent Seven couldn't quite place.

  The TV cut to a close up of the body as two Crawlers stepped forwards and cut it down. Seven cringed at the audible thud of lax limbs and bones as it came crashing down to collide with the earth below.

  The moment Draco noticed what she had seen, he flicked his wand and the screen shut off. "That's not why we're here."

"Clearly." The man chuckled, finally spinning around in his chair to face them. The room was dark for a moment as he pulled out his wand, a hideous branch of birch, and pointed it at an oil lantern, causing the fire to splitter to life. Seven struggled to hide her horror as he became illuminated. "So what is it this time?"

His face was a mess of thick, gnarled scars. His beard was long and tatty. The man before Seven looked as if he'd gone through hell and back and kept the devil's pelt to warm his bed.

  Draco snatched the poster from Seven's hands and threw it on the table before the man. "Any idea where he might be?"

The man took a minute to tear his eyes from Seven before he took the poster between his bear-like paws and frowned. Then he tossed the picture back as if not wanting to see it any longer, "No."

"Come on Seamus." Draco hissed, "Don't play games, just name your price."

The man thought for a moment, eyeing the couple as if measuring their worth. It made Seven's skin crawl. Eventually he said, "Fifty."

The bag Draco tossed down contained far more than fifty galleons by the way it clattered and caused the desk to groan. "Now, where is he?"

Seamus relaxed back in his chair, taking a long drag of his cigarette. Filling his lungs to completion with the black smoke before exhaling it through his lips. Even his lips were scarred. Seven stared, as if almost able to make out five distinct major lines that raked down the man's face amidst the mess of minors. Claw marks. "Why?"

She wondered what sort of beast could possibly make such marks but quickly decided she'd rather not find out.

"We don't have time for this." Draco snarled, despite them having almost two whole weeks before the Sin of Sloth would even return to her district from the meeting in Envy. "Where is he?"

Seamus laughed, "Fuck if I know."

Then he jolted forwards in his seat to snatch the bag of galleons as Draco made to take it back. " — But I know someone who will."

"Who?" Seven asked, deciding she was tired of being a bystander to the two men's exchange.

The man cocked his head as if testing her reaction. "Navy."

  He looked disappointed when she did not react. It made her wonder — was she supposed to?

  Of course she knew who Navy was, having once been a key part of the black market herself, though she'd never actually met the woman.

  She was the rebel leader, and foremost the figure-head of the resistance in Sloth. Meaning Navy was no doubt a force to be reckoned with and certainly not someone you'd want to cross.

  She had been to organise the worker strikes in the Sloth factories, which had caused weeks delays in fabrics, electronics and food production. She had been the one to give Death Eater rich districts their first real taste of famine — though it hadn't lasted long.

  She had also been the one to lead and orchestrate the bombings of key buildings when the Crawlers had begun lining up protesting workers and executing them in the streets.

  "Deal." Seven said at once, causing Draco to shoot her a frustrated look.

  Seamus laughed again, a hearty but somehow guttural sound. Thick and sedated like the sound of machinery. "I see your lass is as tame as ever."

  As if sensing her sudden shift, Draco slipped his hand around Seven's, giving it a subtle squeeze as if to say; don't. Then again she'd never much been one to stay contained and soon she couldn't stop herself from blurting out, "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

  "Ignore him." Draco said which only frustrated her further. She didn't like the way he so often shrugged her off or shut her down, as if she were a child too naive and too stupid to be worth knowing such things. Seven grit her teeth and remained silent as Draco spoke. "Where do we find her?"

  "In the East-End sector, about five miles north from here as the owl flies." The candle flickered, flashing in the reflection of the man's watery blue eyes. "She's staked out in an old warehouse somewhere off Archer Street. Be weary of her men though — word is they have some pretty strange initiations that tend to attract a certain type of lad, if you know what I mean."

  Seven certainly did not know what he meant, but Draco seemed to understand as he tipped his head darkly. "That means going by the gallows..."

  "It does." Seamus said, "And I'd be careful if I were you, nowadays they're looking for any excuse to string up anyone from Hogwarts," He exhaled another bout of silver smoke before continuing, " — That means you too."

***
Who do you think Navy is?